David Berkery

David Berkery is a partner in A&L Goodbody's Finance Department, specialising in aviation and transportation finance. David has over 12 years' experience working in Dublin, London and New York. He spent 5 years based in the US, advising many of the world's leading financial institutions, airlines, aircraft lessors, investment banks and private investors on all aspects of the acquisition, leasing, financing and trading of aircraft, vessels and rolling stock. David has a particular focus on asset backed securitisations (ABS), private placements, Enhanced Equipment Trust Certificate (EETC) offerings, secured and unsecured lending, portfolio sales and industry-specific joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions.

Areas of Expertise

Experience Advising:

A large number of recent ABS transactions both in loan format and 144A bond issuance format involving a variety of aircraft types and vintages.

Acting for underwriters, structuring agents and borrowers on a number of warehouse facilities.

A variety of acquisition financing facilities and term loan facilities secured by portfolios of fixed-wing aircraft, spare engines, business jets and rotor aircraft.

Enhanced Equipment Trust Certificate transactions for US and non-US airlines.

Acting for sellers and purchasers on a number of large aircraft portfolio sales.

Joint ventures, side-cars and M&A transactions relating to aircraft lessors, including the secondary trading of equity in ABS vehicles.

Advising lenders and borrowers in relation to a variety of structures for the financing of aircraft; engines; helicopters; business jets; slots, routes and gates; shipping vessels and other equipment including sale and leaseback transactions, commercial debt (bilateral and syndicated loans), PDP financings, AFIC and export credit agency supported financings and capital markets offerings including ABS.

Professional activities

David was a member of the working group charged with the development of the legal and documentation framework around the Aircraft Finance Insurance Consortium (AFIC) product.